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Signal to Noise

by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), Dave McKean (Illustrator), Jonathan Carroll (Introduction)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 1,840 ratings · 100 reviews

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean present their masterpiece in a completely remastered and redesigned edition overflowing with bonus material! Somewhere in London, a film director is dying of cancer. His life's crowning achievement, his greatest film, would have told the story of a European village as the last hour of 999 A.D. approached - the midnight that the villagers were co...more

Hardcover, 96 pages

Published December 18th 2007 by Dark Horse Comics (first published 1992)

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Apr 24, 2008 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

My store received a copy of this new hardcover edition of "Signal to Noise" just the other day, and before shelving it, I decided to read it. We were slow, and it's short, so I figured I could get through it in an hour or so. I'd read the story once before, though as an internet download of scanned pages rather than in an actual bound edition. At the time, I didn't really get it, and I hoped that reading it in this new edition might make it easier for me to understand. Boy, did it. The second ti...more My store received a copy of this new hardcover edition of "Signal to Noise" just the other day, and before shelving it, I decided to read it. We were slow, and it's short, so I figured I could get through it in an hour or so. I'd read the story once before, though as an internet download of scanned pages rather than in an actual bound edition. At the time, I didn't really get it, and I hoped that reading it in this new edition might make it easier for me to understand. Boy, did it. The second time through, I really connected with the story Gaiman and McKean were trying to tell. The more overt plot concerns a film director who has learned, at the age of not quite 50, that he's got a malignant, cancerous tumor, and will almost certainly die, and soon. He reacts to this by refusing all treatment and going home to wait for death. While sitting around his house, slowly growing sicker, he sketches out the idea for his final film, one that he now assumes will never be made. The film is about the pre-milennial tensions and social unrest that gripped Europe in the year 999 AD. He's fascinated by the idea of a culture preparing for the end of the world, one that quite obviously did not come. This dovetails with his thoughts and fears about his own death. He seems to regret having lost the opportunity to do more, to have as long a life as he'd always planned to have. This is where the concept of the title comes in--the director spends a lot of time thinking about clear ideas and plans being drowned out by the chaos and randomness of the world. McKean's cut-up illustration style on this particular book underscores this thought process to dramatic effect. What helps even more is the inclusion in this edition of a final epilogue called "Milennium". The rest of the book takes place in the early 90s, and this chapter is the thoughts, upon the arrival of the year 2000, of the woman who produced the director's movies. This chapter adds a different perspective to the rest of the book that helps make sense of it, and gives certain parts greater clarity.

I was deeply moved by this book. I don't know why I didn't understand what Gaiman and McKean were going for with it upon first reading, but all that's important is that I got it this time. I feel like I'm dancing around it in this review, rather than saying straight out what their point was, but I partly feel like I couldn't say it straight out if I wanted to, and I also feel like even a concentrated attempt to spell it out might ruin the book for future readers. I don't want to do that, so I'll leave it here. This is one of the better graphic novels I've ever read in my life. Anyone with concerns about life and death and the eventual result of all our plans and ambitions should read this book.(less)

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May 18, 2013 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, modern-fiction

I'm a pretty hard-core advocate for drinking the Gaiman Kool-Aid. Basically, if you've met me, I've recommended Gaiman to you. I just don't meet people without in some way referencing what a supremely wonderful author he is.

That said, "Signal to Noise" is much more a Dave McKean piece than a Neil piece, reading more like "Cages" than say "Sandman" or "Murder Mysteries." There isn't really a hint of the fantastic anywhere in the story. A man learns he is dying and tries to cope with the end of th...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, reviewed

Jesus, 999 A.D., Nostradamus, Jonestown, Y2K, the Mayan Calendar, December twenty-one 2012...

Somewhere, somewhen, somehow, somebody's world is ending.

I couldn't help but think of all the recent hooplah concerning the 12-21-12 hype and how so many intelligent people that had never wanted to admit it, had a sigh of relief once midnight came and went.
So, the world didn't end on 12-21-12... or did it?
I can only imagine someone dying on that fateful day, at that fateful time and what their last thoug...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Andre rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the graphics. If they're in competition then I have to hand the gold to the graphics, but if they're complimentary, and interdependent, as I think they should be, then I have to place this work near the top of the mountain. It doesn't produce that overwhelming 'boom' moment that a graphic novel at its best should; nor does it really blow one away thematically - a heavy influence of past work pillar the archways and the halls display the common cultural trends....more

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Oct 12, 2012 Andrew Adams rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, reviewed

I always think of Neil Gaiman as a reliable author whom I relate to...though I'm not sure why, because I never love his books. I think "it was ok" is how I've rated everything--AMERICAN GODS, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, the one volume of SANDMAN that I read... Yet I remain a fan because I think he has good ideas. I'm a fan of mythological and literary retellings, which he has a propensity for. Also, his film adaptations--BEOWULF, STARDUST, CORALINE--are better than the books I've read.

As for David McKea...more

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Jun 20, 2009 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This is the first graphic novel I've read. I had to give it a try, but I think I prefer regular novels, despite being both an artist and a reader.

I liked the story, but you have to use your imagination even more than you do for usual books, because there are only a few lines of text to tell you what's happening.

The plot is intriguingly deep -- the title refers to determining which things in our lives are important (the signal), and which are noise. The main character of the story is dying, and k...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Anthony Hillman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Check my books on Good Reads and you'll probably realise that Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors of all time. The Sandman managed to redefine the comic book, and his novels have been consistently imaginitive, witty and original (even when deliberately using familiar tropes/characters, etc.)

Back in 1989 when The Sandman was just getting started, and hadn't yet become the opus that it would do eventually, he and long-time collaborator Dave McKean released this graphic novel.

Signal To Noise...more Check my books on Good Reads and you'll probably realise that Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors of all time. The Sandman managed to redefine the comic book, and his novels have been consistently imaginitive, witty and original (even when deliberately using familiar tropes/characters, etc.)

Back in 1989 when The Sandman was just getting started, and hadn't yet become the opus that it would do eventually, he and long-time collaborator Dave McKean released this graphic novel.

Signal To Noise isn't the urban fantasy that Gaiman would become known for. Rather it's a bleak story about a film director who finds he is dying of cancer whilst developing a new movie. Knowing that he isn't going to live long enough to make his movie, he nevertheless begins to write the screenplay anyway, though he has no idea why.

As this is written by Neil Gaiman - a man who has said that he has no control over his ideas, they just come to him and he has to get them written down, I believe he writes because writing is what he does, and he has no idea how to not write.

But whatever the reason, the rest of the plot intersects between the life of the director as he writes and interacts with his closest friends, and the plot of the movie - villagers gathered together on the last day of 999 AD waiting for the end of the world.

Unlike later works, there is little to no humour in this tale, so be prepared for a pretty depressing read. This is amplified by the artwork by Dave McKean which is a mixture of sketches and collage that has become his trademark. He later became known for his work on Batman Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison. His work on this is similar, but whereas it rendered Arkham Asylum near impossible to follow/read certain dialogue, Signal To Noise is coherent throughout (except for the first prologue that features words cut out of a magazine and rearranged to create the dialogue).

The version I read features an epilogue set in the year 2000. I assume it was added after the date as the London Eye features, and that didn't exist in 1989. (view spoiler)(less)

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Apr 24, 2009 PurplyCookie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, science-fiction, fave-author

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean present their masterpiece in a completely remastered and redesigned edition overflowing with bonus material! Serialized in "The Face" in 1989, expanded and revised into a graphic novel in 1992, and adapted for radio in 2000, "Signal to Noise" has never stopped evolving.

Somewhere in London, a film director is dying of cancer.

His life's crowning achievement, his greatest film, would have told the story of a European village as the last hour of 999 A.D. approached - the...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Tancredi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

"People need to read the inside of noise."

Secondo gioiellino prodotto dalla fantasmagorica coppia Gaiman-McKean.
Sul finire del ventesimo secolo un premiato ed affermato regista affronta la fine della propria vita, a causa di una malattia terminale, e la fine del secolo, scrivendo un film che non verrà mai girato sulla fine del primo millennio d.C., tra paure e superstizioni altomedioevali.
Nel progressivo abbandono della vita, il regista si lascia sprofondare nelle sue visioni, splendidamente re...more

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Jun 04, 2013 Garrett Zecker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An excellent graphic novel that I felt is strictly a period piece and study of being an artist more than anything. It follows the story of an aging writer in the final year of his live (this is in the opening pages – I am not spoiling it, really), looking back on his work, relationships, and choices as an artist. The thing about this is that, as a writer myself, I found value and engagement in the themes of the story surrounding the balance we have to make as utterly selfish and narcissistic ind...more An excellent graphic novel that I felt is strictly a period piece and study of being an artist more than anything. It follows the story of an aging writer in the final year of his live (this is in the opening pages – I am not spoiling it, really), looking back on his work, relationships, and choices as an artist. The thing about this is that, as a writer myself, I found value and engagement in the themes of the story surrounding the balance we have to make as utterly selfish and narcissistic individuals who absolutely try as often as we can to squander our time alone, perfecting our craft and attempting to leave a mark on our world that is completely for our own gain and self advancement. It is a beautiful study of the end of life of an artist, and how the art and creation of it is so much a part of our lives that it is indiscernible most of the time as to who we are in many ways.

In terms of what I mean about it being a period piece, I feel like I mean two things. One is that we are constantly looking at texts written in the point of view of the time periods of our lives, either childhood, adolescence, etc. This book, a text that is primarily about the deep winter of a man's life surprisingly doesn't disappoint even though it is nowhere near where I currently am in my own development – primarily because it is focused so heavily on the experience of artistry and existence. I wonder what my final days will look like, especially if I have time to think about them and experience them as this main protagonist had; as an artist it almost seems as through it would be better for it to be a surprise and to not know.

Regardless, the only thing that I really didn't like about it was the other definition of period piece that I mean, and that it is so deeply seeded in the 1990s Americanism that it is to the point of hilarity. For whatever reason, Gaiman's masterful, true writing is inspirational and magnificent, and as always he is a master at transmuting it across genres from prose to poetry to graphic novel and children's books. Truly a talented artist.

The artist of the book, however, created something that is so cliché in terms of the application of the text to a visual format in the 1990s that is is almost laughable. It is MTV, or an advertisement for the decade almost. A RENT-logo-esque visual representation of the conflagration of technology, city, grime, grunge, and abandonment. I wouldn't have said it was cliché then, I probably would have thought it was awesome, but today I can't help think it. It also doesn't seem to jive with the story about an aging writer, and perhaps is better suited to a younger crowd and a younger audience twenty years ago.

I really have no right to make these observations about what it IS, however, and I really enjoyed this text and the presentation as a period piece overall. It is cohesive, smart, and terribly well written, and I attribute it all to Gaiman's mastery of his craft. I am also proud to have purchased it as part of a Humble Bundle and given just about all of the money to the charity and the artists involved in the project.(less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Christian Petrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humble-bundle, graphic-novel

So, how to write a review of this graphic novel. When someone writes a book about someone dying, it could take many forms of how the character reacts to death. The way the character here is interesting. When reading it you get into his mindset towards it. From this aspect, it is well written and keeps you interested.

For the graphics of the story, I was not too keen on. People who design graphic novels will do things how they want to. For Signal to Noise, it was not my favorite, but it was not to...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A big thanks to https://www.humblebundle.com/ for offering this book, and 7 others, in electronic format free of any digital restrictions, at a price to suit one's pocket. (Offer closes 23rd October 2012).

Signal to Noise is offered as a 55MB "HD" PDF, and I strongly recommend a screen at least 1600x1200 or 1920x1080 in colour to be able to read Neil Gaiman's text and appreciate Dave McKean's art. The story is about a reclusive, revered, film writer approaching the end of his life in the last dec...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Bayandur rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-book, philosophy, psychology

“The world is always ending, for someone”, he says.
She is trying to quieten the baby, and does not hear him. I doubt that it would matter if she did.”

A tale of the last days of a movie director. Never boring, McKean's illustrations are great as always. And what it had to say - from signal to noise, it's always signal to noise.

The good thing about some of Gaiman's writings - like the beginning of American Gods and the human subplots in The Sandman series - is their realism. The ability to touch f...more

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May 15, 2008 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean tell (in the best possible medium) a beautiful, haunting story about mortality. The artwork will stretch your soul.

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Mar 19, 2013 Matija rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, ebook, humble-bundle

Signal to Noise is a story about a director who is writing a film about the apocalypse, about the end of the world at the turn of the first millenium. This is kind of fitting, since he himself is dying of a terminal disease and so it's a race against time. A race full of self-reflection and introspection, thoughts about life and death and art and human character.

Pretty good all in all, but I do regret that we don't find out a bit more about the film he's writing, as I found scenes from it - mos...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Luc Abdullah added it · review of another edition

Shelves: english, fiction, graphic

"Why am I writing a film I will never make, writing something no-one will ever see? -- The world is always ending, for someone."

Dedicated to the noises in my head.

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Jul 26, 2011 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. I have read very few books in graphic novel form, and maybe if I was more used to the format, this wouldn't have packed the kind of punch that it did. As it was, however, the haunting drawings lent an emotional edge to the story that I seldom feel.

A movie director is dying, and as he dies, he tries to make sense of his life. There's one script he's had in his mind which has never been written. If he writes it, will everything become clear?

The graphic illustrations make everything dream-like...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

Another triumph by Gaiman/McKean, this one focusing on a film director dying of cancer while planning his last film, which will never be filmed. It's about the fear of the apocalypse in 999 A.D., and ultimately posits there will be no great apocalypse, but only a series of personal apocalypses, which was interesting. Favorite new word: apocatastasis. Nom, Latin!

ap·o·ca·tas·ta·sis /ˌæpoʊkəˈtæstəsɪs/ [ap-oh-kuh-tas-tuh-sis] noun
1. the state of being restored or reestablished; restitution.
2. the...more

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Dec 06, 2010 Anirudh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Signal To Noise is a very effective graphic novel. I forced myself, due to the foreword, to not rush through the words and absorb all the pictures sloooooowly. The art is surreal. Photographs, pencil art and CGI come together to unsettle the helljeebers out of the reader. The story is really beautiful, and is one of the few that I have read that does not treat Death as poignant, beautiful, and such jazz, instead treating Death as a Full Stop.

I am going to be watching 8 1/2 after this, let us see...more

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Oct 04, 2010 Jon Forisha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love weird comic book concepts, and I love Gaiman and McKean. When the three of them team up, it is bliss. The problem is, some weird concepts can't be taken long enough for true bliss to emerge, and that is the case here.

A successful director's final film is about an apocalypse that obviously never happened. Gaiman's juxtaposition between the director and his film is really well done and McKean's art is phenomenal as always.

Really, the only problem is that I wanted more.

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Apr 21, 2011 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

The visuals by Dave McKean are extraordinary. Definitely some of the best art I have seen. Neil Gaiman's story line is also an interesting look at mortality. This is one of the few times I might consider calling something a graphic novel or novella, but in certain ways it's almost like an art exhibit.

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Feb 22, 2012 Sage Maria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20s

A beautiful, sad story, set against phenomenal artwork. Neil Gaiman never fails to win my heart, and Dave McKean never ceases to amazes me.

I realize that Signal To Noise is technically classified as a graphic novel but having it makes me feel like I own one of those art books that people just lay on their coffee tables for browsing through, except that mine can be either browsed through or actually read. It’s intense. It’s gorgeous.

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Dec 02, 2008 Izlinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels-comics

This book includes two short stories/poems/something by Dave McKean and a short one by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean before the main story. I really like the third story "Vier Mauern." I skipped the introduction and skimmed them after the book was read. It turns out the "Hackers" short story were clipped out words that was pasted together semi-randomly.

This book is a great showcase of Dave McKean's illustrative techniques and prowess. There were some boxes that were creepy, or awe-inspiring or ad...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Lil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In graphic novels, I usually find myself appreciating the illustrations more than the text, or getting so caught up in the story that I find myself overlooking the illustrations. This one felt so different - the images and words are completely entwined and complement each other perfectly. It was a real pleasure to immerse myself in this full-on reading experience.

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Aug 08, 2011 Federiken Masters rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans de los autores y/o del cine

Recommended to Federiken by: Sus autores

Fue una lectura de lo más agradable, pero me dejó la sensación de que se trata de una de esas obras que recién pueden ser apreciadas cabalmente a partir de la segunda lectura, ya que en la primera me perdí en algunas partes, ora por el dibujo tan peculiar, ora por referencias del guion que sin duda no cacé. Seguramente con una relectura íntegra, atenta y, sobre todo, documentada la logre apreciar más y quizás escale una estrellita, ya que estoy seguro de que méritos no le faltan a la "novela grá...more

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Jul 22, 2009 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Inder

Recommended to Linda by: Jennifer

Shelves: graphic_novel, faith

I finally read this after getting it as a birthday present a few months ago. I picked it up because I just finished reading another book co-authored by Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. As it turns out, this one has to do with the Apocalypse, too. No humor in this one, though, it's actually quite sad. A filmmaker finds out he has terminal cancer, and decides to finish a script for a movie that will never get made. The movie is about people living in the year 999, who are sure that Armageddon is at hand.
...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Bradley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Took a few pages for it to grab me, but I ended up really enjoying it. Some interesting ideas about mortality and end of life here. The introductions mention that this work has evolved over the years and been presented/re-interpreted in different ways, even by the original authors. I would be very interested in the radio play version as well.

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Jan 04, 2011 Suhrob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very good graphic novel. The art by Dave McKean is absolutely astonishing. I find the story itself slighly weaker. It's very haunting and definitively a potent idead. But somehow I'd like something more - certainly not a "lesson", but... I don't know. Still, it's excellent and if you add the incredible art, this is absolutely recommended!

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Nov 08, 2012 Karl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Karl by: The Humble eBook Bundle

Shelves: ebook, science-fiction

Loved this book so much. Very deep and thought-provoking.

A few spelling errors but nothing that removed any of the feeling of the book.

Would recommend this to anyone who actually contemplates life and what it has to offer. Wouldn't recommend it to people who don't care enough about life to try and understand it.

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Oct 16, 2012 Arttu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Very interesting "illustrated novel" that has more emphasis on the illustration part by Dave McKean than the story by Neil Gaiman. The novel is quite addictive but it falls short. Gaiman likes to address death but the story on this one isn't anything special. Considering the illustration though, it's worth reading.

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Quotes from Signal to Noise

“I sat in the dark and thought: There’s no big apocalypse. Just an endless procession of little ones.” — 39 people liked it

“The world is always ending for someone. It’s a good line. I give it to the father of the child. He says it to his wife. ‘The world is always ending for someone,’ he says. She is trying to quieten the baby, and does not hear him. I doubt that it would matter if she did.” — 18 people liked it

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